Tyrese Darnell Gibson was born on December 30, 1978 in the Watts district in Los Angeles, California, USA, often known simply as Tyrese or Black-Ty. He is an American R&B and hip hop singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, and former fashion model and MTV VJ.

Tyrese began his career at the age of 14, performing in local talent shows around his home in Los Angeles' Watts section; his big break came when he starred in a commercial for Coca-Cola, shortly followed in 1998 by his self-titled debut album for RCA. He followed three years later with 2000 Watts. “I Wanna Go There” appeared a year later, but it wasn't until late 2006 that he released his fourth album, Alter Ego.

Gibson was given the role originally intended for Tupac Shakur in the 2001 film Baby Boy; the movie was a critical success and performed fairly at the box office. Gibson subsequently appeared in the 2003 box office success 2 Fast 2 Furious (opposite Paul Walker), as well as Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Four Brothers (2005) and Annapolis (2006), co-starring James Franco. Gibson was picked as one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men of the Year in 2000.

In 2006, Gibson starred in Waist Deep, in which he played a man fighting to rescue his son from kidnappers; his co-stars in the film, Meagan Good and Larenz Tate, are personal friends of Gibson's in real life. Like several of his previous roles, the film is set in an urban environment, but Gibson has said that he does not view the role as a "step back", rather seeing the film as taking "another direction" due to some of its themes and action sequences.

He also starred in Michael Bay’s blockbuster Transformers (2007).

Filmography

• Luke Cage (2009)
• The Take (2007)
• Transformers (2007)
• Waist Deep (2006)
• Annapolis (2006)
• Four Brothers (2005)
• Flight of the Phoenix (2004)
• 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
• Baby Boy (2001)
• "Moesha" (1 episode, 2000)
• Love Song (2000)
• "The Parent 'Hood" (1 episode, 1998)
• "Martin" (1 episode, 1997)
• "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" (1 episode, 1996)

Awards

• American Music Award Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist 2000